Level Rising!
by Copper Thrice
Summary: Jake is an amateur duelist whose best friend becomes one of the members of the Society of Light. Jake has to find some way to help Ellie, but can a duelist who failed the Duelist Entry Exam do anything? Complete!
1. Chapter 1: Duel in the Park

**LEVEL RISING**

A Yu-Gi-Oh GX fanfic by Copper Thrice.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX or otherwise. Enjoy!

In a small town near the ocean, Jake Parion, was playing a game of Duel Monsters with his new duel disk. His opponent came from another town that had some strange traditions about dueling.

Jake was a slender boy of about fifteen. He played Duel Monsters a lot when he was younger, but not so much anymore. While sitting on a park bench, he was watching other kids dueling with their new duel disks. He remembered his friend, Ellie Watcher, who introduced him to Duel Monsters. She was his best friend for years and she usually beat him at the game, but that didn't keep him from playing.

She left a year ago to go to some place called Duel Academy. Jake didn't go, he stayed home instead. When he got up from the bench, his deck box fell out of his pocket. When he reached to pick it up, Mitch challenged him to a duel. He didn't think Jake was very experienced because he didn't carry a duel disk. That was a big mistake. Jake borrowed a kid's duel disk and, after he changed the wrist size on it, he began the duel.

**J: 4000**

**M: 4000**

Jake drew a card from his duel disk, "I'll start." Jake took a glance at his hand. With a smile, he played a spell in the spell/trap part of his duel disk. "I play Graceful Charity," Jake then reached for his deck.

"Wait," Mitch yelled across the field, "Aren't you going to yell out what it does?"

Jake blinked and put his arm at his side. "Why?" He asked

"It's common courtesy at Duel Academy to tell what a card does when you use it," Mitch continued.

"Don't you already know what it does though? It's not too rare a card." Jake asked with an aggravated look.

"Yeah, but its tradition! I do the same for you," Mitch yelled, "I don't much get it either, but that's the way it is. Now can we just continue?"

"Okay sure," said Jake reaching for his deck.

"Ahem," said Mitch.

"Oh, right. Graceful Charity allows me to draw three cards as long as I then discard two from my hand." Jake said as he drew his cards. He then smiled as he put two cards into the graveyard.

"What you smiling for? You just trashed a couple of cards." Mitch yelled.

"Yeesh, why are you on my case? I'm just tryin to play a stinkin card game here." Jake retorted. "Alright, now I play the spell Level Modulation. Hey, you, draw two cards." Jake then reached for the graveyard slot on his Duel disk.

"Ahem," Mitch said again.

"Huh, oh, yeah, forgot. Level Modulation allows you to draw two cards, but I get to special summon a monsters from my graveyard with "Level" in its name. The downside is that it can't attack or use they're abilities this turn. Got all that?" Jake said confidently. Mitch nodded and drew two cards from his deck.

Mitch smiled as he saw his new cards, but that faded as he saw the monster that Jake summoned to the field. A tall warrior with a pointed helmet and a double-bladed sword appeared in front of Jake.

"Meet Mystic Swordsman LV 4. (1900/1600)" Jake said, naming his. "Next, I place a card in face down defense mode and place two facedowns in the spell/trap area. In end my turn." Jake retained his grin from earlier. He had a plan.

"Finally," Mitch said drawing at the start of his turn. Mitch looked into his hand. "Hmmmm…" He thought. Then he grinned. "That kid got himself into a real mess when he let me draw two extra cards." He thought.

"Alright," Mitch proclaimed. "I activate Cost Down. This allows me to lower the levels of cards in my hand by two stars as long as I discard a card from my hand." Mitch sent a card from his hand to his graveyard. "Now, I summon Labyrinth Wall (0/3000) in face-up attack mode!" Stone walls materialized in front of Mitch.

"Why'd he do that?" Jake thought. The spectators were thinking the same.

"Now, I play the spell Magical Labyrinth! It allows me to sacrifice Labyrinth Wall to summon…" Mitch put his monster in the graveyard along with the spell. "Wall Shadow! (1600/3000)"

A wall with a green ghoul emerging from it appeared. Its six eyes looked menacing and so did its white claws.

"Now, I'll equip him with Fairy Meteor Crush," Mitch said as he played a spell, causing a card to matierailize in front of him. "And that allows him to deal damage if your monster is in defense mode and his attack points are higher! Now, attack his facedown monster!"

The green ghoul raised its clawed arm.

"I play Woboku," Jake said as one of the facedown images of a card lifted to show a trap. "Woboku allows me to negate all battle damage this turn. So my face-down monster is only flipped face-up."

The ghoul's claw swiped down onto the sideways monster card causing it to appear as a hologram of a round marshmallow with an upside-down face.

"What is that," Mitch said laughing, "It looks so pathetic, its hilarious that a duelist would put something like that in their deck."

"You may not be saying that after this," Jake said crossing his arms.

"Huh, why?" Mitch said confused.

"You see… When my Marshmallon (300/500) is flipped face-up due to an attack, you lose 1000 life points. Oh, and even if your attack **did** connect, my monster's other ability makes it so it cannot be destroyed." Jake shrugged, "I just didn't want to lose any life points, so I played Woboku."

"Aaaaagghhhhh," Mitch yelled as red, holographic flames engulfed him.

**J: 4000**

**M: 3000**

"Uhhhhmmm… Why are you yelling," Jake asked, confused as he was.

"Huh, it's tradition. A duelist acts like their pain when he gets hit with life point damage." Mitch said regaining his composure. "Some people like to add falling on their knees or jumping backwards while falling down."

"Man, that's stupid," Jake said with an incredulous look.

"It's tradition," Mitch retorted.

"Ah, screw tradition. Is it my turn yet?" Jake replied.

"Not quite. My Wall Shadow's ability allows him to switch to defense mode at the end of my turn." Mitch then looked at his cards. "Now I'll set a card facedown. It's your turn now."

"Okay, my turn." Jake said drawing a card. He looked over his hand and smiled. "This duel's over."

"Wha, no way." Mitch retorted.

"Way," Jake said playing a spell. "I sacrifice my Marshmallon to summon…" Jake said putting his petite monster in the graveyard. "To summon Armed Dragon LV 5! (2400/2000)" A red dragon with grey armor and a spiked club appeared where the marshmallow disappeared.

"Now, I'll use his special ability. If I discard a monster card from my hand with attack points greater than or equal to your monster's attack, then I can destroy it. I think I'll do just that." Jake discarded a copy of his Armed Dragon LV 5 and his dragon threw its club at the wall where the ghoul appeared out of. The wall shattered and disappeared. Now I'll attack you with both of my monsters directly!" Jake's monsters readied themselves. The dragon held up his club and the swordsman crouched with his double

Mitch grinned, "Heh, watch this. I activate my trap, Mirror Force! It destroys all attacking mon—" Mitch was interrupted when his now face-up trap shattered. "Wha-what just happened?!" Mitch looked at Jake's side of the field to see that Jake had activated his other Trap.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to mention my Trap Jammer." Jake said as his trap disappeared.

"Oh, man…" Mitch said as the monsters continued their attack. In a flurry of motion and holographic dust, Mitch's LP dropped.

**J: 4000**

**M: 0000**

"Well, that's that," Jake said walking away from the defeated duelist. He then took off the duel disk and gave it back to the kid who he got it from.

"You're not half-bad, man," Mitch yelled at Jake. "You should go to Duel Academy, that's where all the real duels are at." Jake stopped in his tracks.

It's not like he didn't want to go to Duel Academy. His parents were okay with it, Duel Academy didn't charge much if you got in and it covered basic school material. It also gave out kick-butt scholarships. It's just…

When he tried to get into duel Academy, he'd failed the Duel Test.

Jake got home and turned on his computer. Ellie and he had sent each other e-mails while she went to Duel Academy. She had recently increased her rank from Ra Yellow to Obelisk Blue, the highest rank in Duel Academy. She was really happy about it. Jake was happy about that too, but he still wished that he had passed his test and gone too.

The strange thing was… She usually kept up with her e-mails. It had been a week since she had sent a new message. Jake had sent e-mails asking why, but he still didn't get an answer.

Jake checked his e-mail. Spam, spam, spam, nothing… "Weird," Jake thought. Then he just shrugged it off. She was probably really busy because of her new rank. Maybe she was having a blast… Jake thought sadly.

Jake went downstairs and turned on the TV. The news was on and they were talking about Duel Academy, so he sat down and watched.

The over-done news reporter was on. He was standing in front of a white… castle like building. Huh, when did that get to Duel Academy? Jake thought.

"Hello, and we're back. Something new is occurring at Duel Academy now. A new dorm has been erected. It's called The Society of Light. It's a very exclusive dorm for the best of the best here and, oh here are some of those duelists now." The man and his cameraman walked over to two girls wearing white uniforms and skirts with grey trim with their backs towards the camera.

"Excuse me, ladies, but can you—" The man said before one of the girls turned around. Jake gasped, it was Ellie. So… she was in that Society thing now, huh. He thought.

"If you excuse me, I have to go to class." Ellie said coldly before turning around and resuming her walk.

"Okay, well anyway—" The reporter said before Jake switched him off.

"Something's wrong," Jake thought, "She was never that cold, or serious about class and her eyes… Why were they grey? I've got to find out… but how?


	2. Chapter 2: Promise

LEVEL RISING

Pt. 2 by Copper Thrice

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

* * *

That night, Jake couldn't get any sleep. "Something's wrong with Ellie, I know it." Jake thought. He turned his head to see his deck beside him. So many memories flooded into him…

* * *

In a small room, two kids played Duel Monsters on the carpet. 

"And your Life Points go to zero." Said a fourteen year-old girl with auburn hair.

"Aw, man, I lost again…" said a younger Jake. "Why do I keep losing, Ellie?"

"Well," Ellie said crossing her arms and thinking. "For one thing, your deck doesn't have a Flow."

Jake shot her a confused look. Ellie sighed.

"You see, a Flow is a style of dueling or what strategy your deck has to it." She said.

"Well, I have one. I summon really good monsters and boost em with spells then bash my opponent," Jake replied holding up a fist.

"Yeah, yeah," Ellie sighed, "But a deck isn't just good cards, you need strategy and a back-up strategy. You also need cards you can trust."

Jake rolled his eyes, "'Cards you can _trust_', you sound like some kind of overdramatic anime.

Ellie bent over to pick up her cards, "I know it sounds overdone, but for some reason it really works, at least for me." She held up her index finger, "Here's an idea: Find a type of card that you really like and build a deck around it. All the best duelists do that."

"Hmmm…" Jake said crossing his arms, then an idea struck. "I have an idea, I'll build my deck around—"

* * *

It was a few months later that Ellie found Jake outside of the Duel Compound. She was wearing her new Academy duel disk and the yellow blazer of the Ra Yellow. She walked slowly over to the depressed Jake. 

She sat down next to him and they sat in silence for a while.

"I blew it," Jake finally said, "I failed the Duel Exam."

"Yep, but ya know,"Ellie said leaning back. "I've never seen you duel so well. It was amazing. I thought it was the best I've ever seen anyone duel!"

"Yeah…"Jake said, "Except I lost…"

"Well, don't get yourself so down." Ellie said putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jake jumped and turned to see her smiling.

"Tell ya what," Ellie said taking her hand off Jake, "I'll try to send e-mails a lot about the academy, okay?"

Jake nodded and smiled, "Alright, but if you get into a bind I'll do my best to help out, alright?"

Ellie laughed, "Okay," she said, "It's a promise."

* * *

Jake got up from his bed and grabbed his deck. He knew what he had to do. 

"I keep my promises," he whispered. I'll go to Duel Academy, somehow.

Jake pulled out his deck, looked through it, and smiled.

"A few changes and I'll be ready," He whispered.

"C'mon," Jake said to the KaibaCorp front desk lady, "There's gotta be some way to get me to Duel Academy!"

"I'm sorry," she said, "But there is no way to enter the Academy, the year's already started."

"C'mon, please! I gotta go there! This is important!" Jake yelled, leaning across the desk. The receptionist backed away from him.

"Leave before I call security," She said coldly.

Jake sighed; it wouldn't do him any good to get arrested, so he left.

Before he got out the doors to the compound, a voice yelled after him.

"Hey, kid, wait!" said a man wearing a suit and tie. Jake stopped and turned around.

The man caught up to him and spoke, "My name is Cain Derrel. I run this section of KaibaCorp and I've been looking for someone like yourself."

Jake shot him a confused look.

"You see, the Duel Academy is about to host its first Generation X tournament and the best duelists from across the world will be there." Cain said. "And if you're good enough, I might consider placing you as my companies' representative."

Jake blinked. "Wow, that's convenient," he thought.

"Uhm, sure," he said aloud.

"Now not so fast," Cain said stopping him short, "First you have to defeat our current rep in a duel." Cain snapped his fingers and a tall, beefy man with a briefcase came over to them.

"Okay," Jake said, "Who's the rep.?"

"Me," said Cain handing Jake a Duel Disk from the briefcase.

"DUEL" said the two as they went to different ends of the front desk room. The receptionist sighed, it was one of those days.

**C: 4000**

**J: 4000**

"I'll start," Cain said drawing his hand. "I set a card in defense mode and place a card face-down. That's my turn." A holographic image of a card appears in front of Cain sideways and then another on appears near his feet set normally.

"Alright," Jake said as he drew. He had to hand it to Cain, he was very calm about this duel. "I summon Mystic Swordsman LV 2! (900/0)" A short warrior with tan armor and a katana appears. "His ability allows him to destroy a face-down monster that he attacks regardless of points. Now, Swordsman, attack his face-down!"

"Sorry, kid, ain't gonna happen," Cain said grinning. " I activate Skill Seal. It's a trap that has me pay 1000 LP and all effects from effect monsters are negated." It was then that Cain closed his eyes tightly, like he was in pain or something.

**C: 3000**

**J:4000**

Jake grits his teeth then watches as his Swordsman attacks with its few attack points. The face-down monster appears, revealing a Stone Soldier. (1200/ 2000).

Suddenly, Jake feels a jolt of pain run through his body from his duel disk arm. He clutches his side and sees his LP drop.

**C: 3000**

**J: 2900**

"What was that?" He asked looking at his opponent, "What just happened?"

"Well, you see, the newest version of the Duel Disk gives the duelist a jolt of pain depending on how many Life Points they lost." Cain said smiling.

"That's nuts!" Jake yelled at him.

"What, do you want to quit, little boy," Cain mocked.

Jake gritted his teeth harder, "No." he said.

"Then lets continue," Cain said.

"Okay," Jake looked into his hand. "I'll put two cards facedown and end my turn." Two holographic cards appeared below Jake's feet.

"My turn," said Cain drawing. He looked at his hand. "First, I play Fissure, this allows me to destroy your swordsman." Jake's monster disappeared down a virtual hole. "Now I summon a Giant Orc (2200/ 0) and then I'll switch my soldier into attack mode." A huge, muscular, grey orc appeared and the soldier rose from defense with its stone swords at the ready. "Now, I'll have my monsters attack. You see, thanks to my continuous trap, Skill Seal, my Orc doesn't go into defense mode after he attacks because it negates all effects." The two giant monsters ran towards Jake.

"I activate my Negate Attack!" Jake said as a trap flipped up. "Your attack is negated and your battle phase is over."

"Alright, then," Cain said. "I guess I'll end my turn there then."

Jake nodded as he drew a new card. "I play Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two." Jake drew and discarded his cards. "Now I summon Horus LV 4 (1600/1000)." A metal bird-like dragon appeared before Jake. "Now I'll have him attack your soldier!" The dragon blew out black fire at the soldier and it disappeared beneath the flames. Cain still showed little sign of pain.

**C: 2600**

**J: 2900**

"I can't use my monster's effect to level him up after he destroys a monster, but I'll have to leave him be and end my turn." Jake said giving a grimace. His trap was a bluff and he didn't like to leave his monsters undefended.

"Okay," says Cain, "I summon my Bistro Butcher!" As Cain said this, a man with a blue, goblin face and a hook for an arm and a chef's hat appeared. "Now I'll have my orc attack!" The massive grey Orc raised its club and shatters Horus. Jake feel some pain as LP is drained away from him.

**C: 2600**

**J: 2300**

"It's not over yet!" Cain said, "Now my Butcher attacks you directly." The hook arm is a hologram, but Jake feel pain none the less because of the duel disk. "Oh, and when my Butcher deals damage to you, you get to draw two cards. Now, I'm done," Cain said ending his turn, "But I hope you're better than this!"

"I keep my promises," Jake whispered.

"What was that," Cain asked, but Jake just looked him straight in the face. Jake drew his extra two cards and then his draw phase card. He looked them over for a moment and grinned.

"I activate Premature Burial, a spell that has me give up 800 Life Points to bring back a monster from my Graveyard! I bring back my Horus LV 4!" The spell appeared on the field and Jake felt the pain of losing points.

**C: 2600**

**J: 1500**

"Now I activate the spell Heavy Storm, it destroys all traps and spell on the field." Jake watched as Cain's trap shattered. "Now I play my Level Up! Spell so my monster is sent to the graveyard to summon…" Jake pulled a card out of his deck and put his dragon back into the graveyard. Out appeared a large, metal dragon with more metal dragon with larger wings than its predecessor. "Horus LV 6! (2400/1600)

Now I summon D. D. Warrior Lady! (1500/1600)" A woman appeared with light armor and a sword. "Now I play my facedown, Mage Power. It gives my Warrior Lady an extra 500 attack and defense points for every spell on my side of the field. Including this new facedown, that's a bonus of 1000 points. Now I'm gonna end this and I'll attack with Horus!" The dragon shot a black fireball at the Orc and it fried. Cain winced, he didn't see that coming.

**C: 2400**

**J: 1500**

"Now I'll have my empowered Warrior Lady attack you directly!" Jake watched as the woman made a holographic slice across Cain's chest, but he felt pain none the less.

**C: 0000**

**J: 1500**

"Alright," said Cain panting from the shock. "You're in."

Jake smiled as the holograms of his monsters faded.

"Just one thing," Jake asked, "Can you get rid of this stupid pain thing, it kinda bugs me."

"Sure thing champ," Cain said, "By the way, what's the name of your deck's Flow. It's pretty good."

Jake thought for a moment. He hadn't thought about naming his deck…

"It's called…" Jake said as Cain took his duel disc and Jake removed his deck from it.

"Level Rising!"


	3. Chapter 3: Tournament

LEVEL RISING

Pt 3 by Copper Thrice

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

* * *

Jake took a step off the KaibaCorp jet and looked around. He was actually here! Duel Academy! He couldn't believe it.

On the day he left, he left a note for his parents and packed his deck and new Duel Disk, pain free version of course. Jake said goodbye to his friends and boarded the KC jet to Duel Academy. He now wore a silver blazer with the KC symbol on it. Cain met him after he landed.

After he went to the Academy's main hall and heard Chancellor Shepherd's announcement about the duel tournament, he got his first medal. According to Shepherd, duelists faced each other all across this island and the winners get all of the loser's medals. The last few people with the medals would face each other in the finals.

However, Jake disappeared after he got his medal, he had to find Ellie. Jake managed to find a while later, she was dueling a student from Ra Yellow.

**E: 4000**

**R: 0200**

"I summon Gilford the Lightning! (2800/1400)" She yelled as a tall warrior with a large sword and an orange cape. She seemed… different somehow, thought Jake.

"Now, because I sacrificed three monsters to summon my warrior, all of your monsters are destroyed." The three face-down monsters on the Yellow students shattered. The student looked in fear at her new warrior.

"Now, Gilford, crush him!" Ellie yelled and the monster charged at the student. He screamed as the holographic sword destroyed his LP.

**E: 4000**

**R: 0000**

"Now, that you've lost," Ellie said walking towards him, "You will become part of the Society of Light, as agreed." The student rose and his yellow uniform turned white with grey trim. His eyes turned grey and it seemed like his personality changed. "Now, give me your medals." Ellie said holding out her hand. The once-yellow student reached into his pocket and pulled out three medals and she took them.

"Ellie, wait!" Jake said rushing down onto the arena. Ellie turned around and met his gaze with her now grey eyes. "Ellie, uh, hi. What's goin on?" He asked.

"Oh, Jake right?" she asked emotionlessly. Jake blinked, she forgot about him? "You're the pathetic duelist that I became friends with before my transformation." Jake blinked again and his mouth opened in shock. "If you wish to duel me, you have to have at least three medals."

"What?" Jake asked. Ellie continued.

"I only duel people with three or more medals." she said just as emotionlessly.

"What happened to you?" Jake asked incredulously, "We were friends remember?"

"Were, is the key word. I am with the Society of Light now." Ellie said walking past a confused Jake. He turned to follow her, but she was surrounded by Society cronies, including the ex-Ra Yellow student.

It all pieced together for Jake. When Ellie beat the Yellow duelist, he became a Society member. So she must have lost to a society member and became like that. So the only way to bring her back was to duel her and win. Jake nodded and set off to find some duelists and get some medals.

* * *

After a short search, he met Kyle Mesmera, a duelist who's Flow was centered around something called, "The End of the World". Kyle had two medals already, so Jake faced him so that he could get all the medals he needed quickly. The duel began and Jake was ready.

**J: 4000**

**K: 4000**

"I'll start." Said Kyle. "I play my Pot of Greed. It allows me to draw two cards." Kyle drew his cards and smiled. "Now I summon my Double Coston! (1700/1650)" Two black, gel-like monsters, that appeared to be joined, appeared in front of Kyle. "Now I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Okay," said Jake drawing. Then Jake grimaced, he hated when this happened. His Flow called for a lot of different types of cards, so he had to make his deck a 50 card deck. The problem was, sometimes he drew starting hand of only magic, trap, and monsters he had to sacrifice to summon. That was the case now. "I'll have to buy time," Jake thought. "I place two face-downs and end my turn!"

"Got it!" Kyle replied, drawing. "I activate my ritual spell card: The End of the World! It's a spell that allows me to sacrifice monsters from my hand or my field to summon a Ritual monster. I sacrifice two monsters from my hand to summon Demise, King of the End!" He a large warrior appeared in a flash of brilliant light. It was a heavily armored warrior with a gigantic axe. "Now I activate two Emergency Provisions! You see, when I activate them, I can destroy a trap or spell on my side of the field and I get 1000 Life Points for each one! I use them on each other!"

**J: 4000**

**K: 6000**

"Now I activate Demise's special effect. He destroys all cards on the field, except for himself, in exchange for 2000 Life Points!"

**J: 4000**

**K: 4000**

The giant warrior raised its axe and struck the ground. In a torrent of holographic stone and wind, both of Jake's face-down traps were destroyed and so was Double Coston. "Now, I play my spell card: Meteor of Destruction! If you have over 3000 Life Points, my spell does 1000 damage to you directly!" A meteor appeared above Jake and he put his hands in front of himself instinctively.

"What am I doing," Jake thought as the holographic meteor hit him and Jake felt nothing. Jake put his arms down, embarrassed.

**J: 3000**

**K: 4000**

"Demise, attack him directly!" Kyle yelled. His monster obeyed and chopped its holographic axe through Jake.

**J: 0600**

**K: 4000**

"Ya know," Kyle said crossing his arms. "I came to this place to duel the best, but if this is all I get… I'm very disappointed. This is the biggest stinkin tournament since KaibaCorp's first Battle City tournament and here I play some boy who can't get his moves right or his deck together."

Jake closed his eyes and remembered his promise. "I keep my promises," he thought. "Is it my move?" Jake asked.

"Sure, but this duel's over, man, I put a card face-down and end my turn." Kyle said as a holo-card appeared below his feet.

Jake drew his card and smiled. "You're right! It is over!" Kyle shot him a confused look. "I use the spell: Cost Down! I discard a card from my hand and all my monsters in my hand go down by two stars. Now I summon Silent Swordsman LV 5! (2300/1000)" A tall warrior wearing a long blue robe with metal plating appeared with a huge sword. "Now I play Level Up! It sends my swordsman to the graveyard and I get to summon his most powerful form. Now, meet Silent Swordsman LV 7!" (2800/ 1000) A taller, tougher warrior with a blue, plated robe appeared.

"Now, Swordsman, attack his Demise!" Jake yelled.

"Not so fast," Kyle said, "I play a quick spell: Offerings to the Doomed. It—" but Kyle was cut off when his spell shattered. "What just happened?!" he yelled.

"You see, when my Silent Swordsman LV 7 is on the field," Jake began, "All spells are negated and destroyed when active."

The swordsman sliced the End King and he shattered.

**J: 0600**

**K: 3600**

"Nice move, but I'm still kickin!" Kyle said.

"Okay, said Jake, "I end my turn after placing a card face-down."

"My move," said Kyle drawing. He smirked. "I'm just gonna put one card face-down and end it there. Call it a free shot if you want."

Jake narrowed his eyes and drew. "Heh, heh," thought Kyle, "My face-down is Mirror Force. When he attacks, he'll lose all his monsters and then I'll attack directly and win this game."

Jake looked at his hand and spoke, "I play my face-down Heavy Storm! It's a spell that destroys all spells and traps on the field." The sound of wind swept through. The Swordsman's cloak shuddered in the wind as Kyle's trap shattered. "Now I summon my Armed Dragon LV 3! (1200/900)" A small, orange dragon with a few plates of metal and a spiked tail appeared. "Now," Jake said pointing at Kyle. "Attack him directly!" The two monsters leapt forward and attacked with their weapons. Kyle fell to his knees as his LP dropped.

**J: 0600**

**K: 0000**

"What a Drama Queen," Jake thought, walking over to Kyle.

When he walked past his holographic monsters, the dragon and the warrior gave him a grin and a nod before they vanished.

"That was weird," Jake thought. Kyle rose and laughed.

"Guess you get my medals now, huh? Well, you won fair and square, here." Kyle dropped two medals into Jake's hand. "I'm just glad to see that there are still some pretty good duelists left in this world." Kyle walked away.

"Good duelist," said Jake aloud, "I hope I am." Jake pocketed his new medals and walked towards the Society of Light dorm.

"I'm gonna need to be good to beat Ellie."


	4. Chapter 4: The Two Heroes 1of2

Level Rising

Pt. 4: The Two Heroes 1/2

By Copper Thrice

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. (Why do I keep putting that disclaimer? Isn't it already obvious that I don't own it?)

It was getting late when Jake rushed to the area where he had first met with the "new" Ellie. She wasn't there anymore, so he went to the Society of Light dorm.

The white castle-like dorm towered high. Jake swallowed and walked to the dorm's entrance. Two large duelists in white uniforms blocked his way.

"Let me in!" Jake yelled at the guards. "I'm here to duel Ellie!" Still the guards would not let him through. "Fine!" Jake yelled, "In this tournament duelists have to accept a duel invitation. If I win, I get to—"

"That only works…" said one of the guards, "If we actually had medals. We lost duels to Ellie and now we guard this dorm. Get outta here." Jake grit his teeth in anger, but turned around and walked away.

As Jake sat down he remembered the e-mails that Ellie had sent him a few weeks ago.

She was one of the top in her class. Only Alexis Rhodes was above her. People had compared her to Zane Trusdale a few times. How could he beat her?

Jake leaned back and sighed. His plan to duel her and bring her back to normal was starting to sound half-baked.

He got up and started walking through the woods towards the KaibaCorp embassy when he had a feeling that someone was following him.

"Who's there?" he yelled into the trees that surrounded him.

* * *

A man with long, blue hair and a very mystic appearance sat in his quarters in the Society of Light dorm. He was Saartorius, the master and founder of the Society of Light. He sat at a table, where he had laid Fortune Telling cards. He was upset at the fortune that the cards read.

Ellie entered the room and bowed to Saartorius. "You asked for me to come, Master?" She asked emotionlessly.

"Yes…" Saartorius said, his thoughts elsewhere, "I need you to deal with a problem of mine. According to the Cards, two duelists are on this island. One of them has the power to change Destiny itself. I believe this boy to be Jaden Yuki. The other is an old friend of your's. His Power has not developed yet, but he has drawn out the souls of his monsters and presents a problem. You agreed to duel Jake Parion, correct?"

"Yes, Master, bit only if he has enough medals to be worthy," Said Ellie.

"My spies have told me that he has acquired the medals you requested." Saartorius said.

Ellie's eyebrow raised in surprise. "What is it?" Saartorius asked.

"You see, Master. Jake was never a very good duelist. He had potential, but he never realized it. He failed the Duel Academy Entry Exam."

"Well, things must be different now. He defeated the 'End of the World' duelist." Saartorius replied. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out two Duel Monster cards. "Take these and you should be able to defeat Jake Parion."

"Thank you, Master," Ellie said taking the cards. "But I may not need them."

Before Ellie left, Saartorius interrupted her. "Oh, and bring Alexis in here. She should be able to handle our Jaden Yuki problem."

"Yes, Master." Ellie said closing the door. "She's a good choice," Ellie thought, "After all, Alexis Rhodes was the one who beat me and had me see the Light."

* * *

"Who's there?' Jake repeated. This was getting unnerving.

Suddenly two duelists stepped out from the trees. They were two guys who wore matching, Japanese clothing. One wore a white outfit with black trim. The other wore a black outfit with white trim.

"Hello, Duelist," said the white one, "I am Yin Charles and this is my brother Yang Charles. We are here to duel you and gain your medals. We challenge you!"

"Wait," Jake said, "I know that I have to accept a challenge, but I can't just duel BOTH of you!"

"Ya don't have to," said a voice from within the trees. The group turned to see a boy with a red, Duel Academy blazer. He had brown hair with blonde highlights and a seemingly permanent grin. "I'll help ya out." The duelist raised his Duel Disk to show that he was ready. He stood beside Jake and faced Yin and Yang.

"Wait!" Jake said turning towards the boy. Jake wasn't thrilled about having a Slifer Red as a partner. They were supposed to be the lowest ranked duelists at the Academy. "I don't even know you."

The boy gave a startled look at Jake. "Really, I thought I was on TV once or twice." He said. "You really don't know me?"

"I just said that," Jake thought then nodded.

"Oh, OK, well I'm Jaden Yuki, and you are?" The boy said with a smile.

"Jake Rizen," Jake replied.

"Are you done over there?" said Yang in an aggravated voice.

"Yeah, let's DUEL," said Jaden.

DUEL

**Yin-Yang: 8000**

**J & J: 8000**

Turn order: Yin-Jaden-Yang-Jake

"Alright," Yin said drawing. "I summon Magical Library (0/2000) in face-up defense. Then I set a card face-down and end my turn." A stone tower, lined with ancient tomes appeared before Yin.

"Okay," Jaden said drawing. Then he looked at his shoulder. "Yeah, this is going to be sweet. Nice to see ya again, bud."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Jake.

"Oh, it's my pal, Winged Kuri—oh right, you can't see him. Sorry." Jaden said smiling.

"This guys's nuts," Thought Jake. "Great, he's not only a Slifer, but he talks to himself."

"I summon Elemental Hero: Clayman! (600/2000) Then I'll throw down a face-down and end my turn." A round warrior made of smooth clay appeared.

"My turn," Yang said drawing. "I summon the Dark Elf (2000/300) and I equip the spell Black Pendant to her." A maiden in red robes appeared. Then on her neck appeared a black necklace and a black aura surrounded her. Dark Elf: (2500/300) "That will end my turn."

"Okay," said Jake drawing, "I summon Breaker, The Magical Warrior! (1600/1200)" A warrior dressed in red and gold armor appeared. In one hand, he held a sword, in the other, a shield. "His special ability allows him to gain a Spell Token if he's summoned. He gains 300 Attack points if I let him keep it, but I think I'll just sacrifice it to destroy one of your spells or traps. I choose the face-down on Yin's field!"

Breaker sheathed his sword and took a black gem out of his shield; he then threw the gem at the face-down. The trap shattered on impact.

"Now I play Token Jar. It's a card that allows me to place a spell token on one of my monsters every turn. After three tokens leave it, it's destroyed. I'll give a new token to Breaker and he'll use it to destroy Black Pendant."

A black jar appeared in front of Jake and a new black gem floated over to Breaker. He then threw it at the Elf. Yang smiled and Jaden shot Jake a worried look. Jake returned a confused look.

The pendant shattered and the aura left the Elf. Then it flew for Jake. It wrapped itself around his Duel Disk and drained 500 LP.

**Yin-Yang: 8000**

**J & J: 7500**

"Wha?" Jake said as the aura faded.

"You see," Yang began, "When my Pendant is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage. Didn't you know that?"

"Great," thought Jake, "I'm paired with a Slifer and I'M the one who screws up."

"Well, I end my turn after placing a card face-down." Said Jake.

"My turn," Yin said, "Now I summon my Gemini Elf (1900/500) and they'll attack your Breaker." A pair of twin elves appeared and attacked Breaker with a double attack. He shattered.

**Yin-Yang: 8000**

**J & J: 7200**

"Hang on!" yelled Jaden. "I activate Hero Signal! It activates when a monster is destroyed, so I can summon an Elemental Hero. I summon Elemental Hero: Sparkman! (1600/800)" A new warrior with blue and yellow armor and a slanted, pointed helmet that covers his face appeared.

"Hmmm… I'll end my turn after placing a face-down." Said Yin.

"Okay, my turn!" Jaden said drawing. "I activate Polymerization! It fuses two compatible monsters into one new one. I fuse my Heroes: Sparkman and Clayman to form Elemental Hero: Thunder Giant! (2400/ 2000)"

The two monsters shattered and their particles fused to form a large warrior with yellow armor and an electric core. "Now I'll use his special ability! I discard a card from my hand to destroy a monster with an original attack of 2400 points. I'll destroy the Dark Elf!" The giant took electricity from its core and shot it at the Elf. The Elf shattered and disappeared.

**Yin-Yang: 7500**

**J & J: 7200**

Jaden shot a grin at Jake who nodded. "Hm," Jake thought, "For a Slifer, he's pretty good."

"I'll throw down two face-downs and end my turn." Jaden said placing a card on the field.

"My turn," said Yang, "Mind if I use your monster, brother."

"Not at all," Said Yin.

"Alright," said Yang, "I sacrifice my brother's library to summon Mefist, the Infernal General! (1900/1800) Then I give him the equip spell Axe of Despair." A knight with cruel armor on a black, armored horse appeared. He placed his spear to the side and an evil-looking axe appeared in his hand.  Mefist: (2900/1800) "Now he'll attack your Thunder Giant!"

Mefist ran forward and sliced through the giant with its cruel axe. The giant gave a yell, then shattered.

**Yin-Yang: 7500**

**J & J: 6700**

Jake took a quick look at Jaden. Jaden wasn't even phased, in fact he looked like he was having a blast.

"Sweet move, Ying!" he said.

Yang frowned, "My name's Yang."

"Oops, sorry, dude. My fault." Jaden said scratching his head.

"Anyway, I end my turn." Yang said.

"Who's side is this guy on?" thought Jake.

"Alright," Jake thought while drawing, "I can't screw up this turn either."

"I play the spell Graceful Charity! It allows me to draw three cards as long as I discard two of them." Jake drew his cards and put tow in the grave. "Now I activate my Level Modulation! It has you two draw two cards, but I get to summon a Level monster from my Graveyard. I choose my Horus LV 8!" (3000/1600)

Holographic, black flames swirled around behind Jake and a monster rose form the circle. A huge, silver, feathered dragon appeared.

"Oh, and as long as Horus is on the field, spell cards don't work. So you can't play any more of your equipment spells." Jake said with a smile. 'Now I'll have Horus attack your Mefist!"

The dragon swirled black flame in its mouth.

"Don't think so," yelled Yin. "I play my trap, Spellbinding Circle. Your monster is paralyzed and cannot attack us or defend Jaden."

A ring of runes appeared out of the trap and surrounded Horus. Its black flames ceased swirling and its eyes glazed over as it froze.

"Oh, boy," thought Jake. "This can't be good."

"I… I end my turn after putting a card face-down," Jake said.

"My turn," Yin said, "I summon my Dunames Dark Witch! (1800/700) I use her to attack Jaden directly!" A woman with white wings and a sword appeared and attacked Jaden. Jaden took the attack and their LP dropped.

**Yin-Yang: 7500**

**J & J: 4900**

"I end my turn," Yin said with his own cocky grin.

"Okay!" said Jaden, "I activate the ability of a monster in my graveyard. I discarded Elemental Hero: Necroshade on my last turn. Now I can use his ability to summon a monster from my hand without sacrificing for it! I summon my Elemental Hero: Blade-Edge!" (2600/2000)

A warrior with golden armor and blades on his arms appeared.

"Now I'll have him attack your Dark Witch!" The golden monster rushed forward and attacked the witch. She shattered into pieces and Yin took damage.

**Yin-Yang: 6700**

**J & J: 4900**

"Now I put a card face-down and end my turn." Said Jaden.

"Heh, my turn," said Yang, "Attack, Mefist!" The horseman charged forward and destroyed Jaden's monster.

**Yin-Yang: 6700**

**J & J: 4600**

"I'll end my turn," said Yang.

"This isn't good," said Jake.

"Yeah," said Jaden, "But a duel's not over till the last card is drawn."

"Heh, you sound like a friend of mine," Jake said with a chuckle.

"He's right though," Jake thought, "I'm not through yet!"

"I draw!" Jake said.

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5: The Two Heroes 2of2

Level Rising

By Copper Thrice

Chapter 5: The Two Heroes 2/2

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

* * *

**Yin-Yang: 6700**

**J & J: 4600**

"Hmmm…" said Jake looking at the card he had just drawn. It wasn't exactly the one he wanted. Jake turned to Jaden who just grinned and nodded. Jake nodded back.

"I activate Card Destruction! This makes us all discard our hands and draw five new cards from our decks."

The two brothers discarded their hands and so did Jake and Jaden.

"No more screwing up," thought Jake. "Your Spellbinding Circle makes it so that my monster can't attack, but I can still sacrifice it. I sacrifice my Horus LV 8 to summon my Armed Dragon LV 5! (2400/1700)"

The silver Dragon returned to the black flames and a red dragon with metal armor and a spiked club appeared.

"Now," said Jake, "I can use my Dragon's special ability! I can discards a monster card from my hand with attack equal to or more than one of your monster's original attack points. So I discard Mystic Swordsman LV 4 (1900/1600) and I can destroy Mefist!"

The red dragon raised its spiked club and threw it across the field at the horseman. It shattered on impact and the dragon's club returned to him.

"Now I'll have my dragon attack your Dark Witch!" yelled Jake just before the dragon let loose a torrent of flame. The witch shattered.

**Yin-Yang: 5100**

**J & J: 4600**

"I'll end my turn with that." Said Jake.

"Now THAT was a good move," said Jaden. Jake grinned, their opponents just lost their most powerful monster. This match was done. Jake breathed a sigh of relief.

"My turn," said Yin, "I place a monster in face-down defense mode and put down two face-down cards. That will end my turn." A sideways card appeared in front of Yin, along with two forward cards at his feet.

"My draw," said Jaden, "I activate my Miracle Fusion spell card! It allows me to remove two monsters that are Fusion compatible from my graveyard out of play. Then I summon their Fused form. I send my Blade-Edge and Elemental Hero Wildheart from play to summon…" A white portal behind Jaden and a strong warrior with plates of golden armor along his head, legs, and left arm appeared. On his back was a large, crude sword.

"Elemental Hero: Wild-Edge!" (2500/2300) "Now he'll attack your face-down monster!"

The warrior gripped his crude sword and sliced the face-down monster, which shattered.

"I activate my traps!" yelled Yin "Two Embodiment of Apophis!" (1600/1800) The two traps rose and became two defense monsters. They were purple snakes with golden armor and two arms which carried a sword and a shield.

"I'll end my turn," said Jaden. "This was fun, guys, but this game's over."

Yin and Yang began laughing. Jake and Jaden looked at each other in confusion.

"Did you think we got into this tournament for having a monster as weak as Mefist?" said Yin.

"In that case," said Yang beginning his turn, "then prepare to meet your worst nightmare."

The brothers had become very reassured about themselves. Jake grit his teeth. He had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Ellie waited outside Saartorius' office for Alexis. She wanted to know what Saartorius wanted her for so badly. Surely Ellie could take on this Jaden Yuki. What was so special about Alexis Rhodes?

A few minutes later, the door to the Master's quarters opened and Alexis walked out. Like Ellie, she wore a white blazer with grey trim and a white skirt.

"So," Elie said, "Master wants you to face Jaden, right?"

Alexis nodded, "Not yet though. The master wants to wait until the time is right. However, you are free to face Jake when you wish."

"I can take my time," said Ellie, "Jake might've fluked his way this far, but I am ten times the duelist he is."

"Careful though," Alexis said, "I thought the same of Jaden Yuki and look at him now."

"Is that why Master wants you to face him," asked Ellie, "You used to be friends?"

Alexis nodded, "When the time is right I will defeat Jaden. We'll part ways here. Soon all of this Academy will see the Light."

Ellie nodded and the two girls separated and walked down their own corridors.

* * *

"Now, face the Darkness," yelled Yang with a large smile on his face, "I activate Monster Reborn! I revive my Mefist and I sacrifice my monster and both of my brother's monsters summon—"

A huge, black portal appeared below the duelists. It seemed to grip the three struggling monsters and drag them down to the depths. A dark green, armored hand shot up from the portal. It was huge, as big as the two duelists. Soon another arm shot up, then the thing's body was heaved up from the depths.

It was a gigantic demon, with a bone helmet and green armor. Darkness poured from it as its black wings unfurled in the moonlight.

"Meet our Dark Dreadroute!" (4000/4000) said the brothers together. The demon let loose a terrifying roar. It was deafening to Jaden and Jake, who covered their ears.

"If you thought he was bad now," said Yang, "here's its special ability!"

Upon hearing the roar, the monsters on Jake's and Jaden's field became weaker.

Wild-Heart: 1250/1150

Armed Dragon LV 5: 1200/850

"They lost attack and defense points!" yelled Jaden.

"Thank you for stating the obvious!" yelled Jake. Jaden just shrugged.

"Now, my Dark Dreadroute, attack Armed Dragon." Yelled Yang.

The demon raised its armored hand to smite the red dragon. The dragon stared up at the green hand and turned slightly to Jake. Jake jumped in surprise, he could see fear in his monster's eyes. They almost said, "I'm sorry." These holograms didn't normally do that!

The green hand clenched into a fist and smashed the dragon, which shattered upon impact.

**Yin-Yang: 5100**

**J & J: 1800**

"Not good," thought Jake, "Their monster is stronger than anything in my deck, maybe Jaden can pull something out of his hat."

"I end my turn," said a grinning Yang.

"My turn," said Jake. He drew and added the cards to his hand. "This'll work," he thought with a smile, "I can't win with attack points, but maybe I can win with a special ability."

"I set a monster in face-down defense and end my turn." Jake said.

"My turn," said Yin, "and I summon my new Gemini Elf! (1900/900)" Twin elves appeared in front of Yin, when they were summoned their points dropped. (950/450)

"Now I activate my equip spell Horn of the Unicorn! It increases my Elves attack and defense by 700 points!" (1650/1150)

On the elves foreheads grew yellow spiraled horns as the cards ability took its affect.

"Now, my Elves, attack his defense monster!" The twins attacked Jake's monster. It flipped up to reveal a woman with silver armor and a sword like a meat cleaver. She shattered on impact.

"Hang on," yelled Jake, "thanks to my D.D. Assailant's ability; I can remove the monster that destroyed her from play!"

A portal opened behind the elves and the Assailant grabbed the two by the arms, pulling them in before the portal closed.

"It doesn't matter," said Yin, "My brother's monster will destroy you! I end my turn."

"My draw," said Jaden. Jake noticed that he smiled when he saw what he drew. "I summon my Winged Kuriboh in defense mode." (300/200)

Jake watched as a small, brown furball with large eyes, tiny claws, and small, white wings appeared. "Man," thought Jake, "and people make fun of my Marshmallon? This thing's pathetic."

"Good to see ya, bud," said Jaden to his monster. Jake's eye's widened as the monster turned to him and bounced happily.

"What the?" said Jake watching the monster. The two brother's faces said the same.

"Oh, right. Jake, meet my partner, Winged Kuriboh," The furball nodded towards a very confused Jake. "You couldn't see him earlier. You thought I was nuts, didn't you?" said Jaden.

"Yep," said Jake, but he thought, "but I still think yur crazy."

"Now I put a card face-down and put my Wild-Edge in defense mode." Said Jaden, "It's your turn."

"That little fuzball can't save you, kid," said Yang, "I play my Offerings to the Doomed to destroy your Wild-Edge!" The half-golden warrior shattered. "Now I'll have my Dreadroute crush your fuzball!"

The demon raised its arm.

"I don't think so," yelled Jaden, "I activate Transcendent Wings! It transforms my Winged Kuriboh into Winged Kuriboh LV 10! (300/200)"

A blinding light shot from above Winged Kuriboh. The light cocooned it and soon shattered.

Kuriboh's wings had grown huge and it was now covered in shiny dragon-scale armor. It stared up at the demon who shrank back from the light.

"My partner's ability allows him to sacrifice himself—"yelled Jaden as Kuriboh used its giant wings to lift into the air above the demon, "He then destroys all of your monsters and their attack points are subtracted from your Life points!"

Kuriboh lifted high then dive-bombed the demon, turning into a comet of blinding light.

It hit the demon who lost his grip on the earth outside its portal.

It fell with a horrible scream as it fell back into the portal which closed behind it.

**Yin-Yang: 1100**

**J & J: 1800**

All the brothers could do was watch as their monster vanished.

"Wow," thought Jake as the holographic dust settled. "That was impressive."

"I… I end my urn," said Yang stuttering, looking down at where his monster vanished.

"My draw," said Jake, "I summon my Silent Swordsman LV 4 (1000/1000)and equip hum with Mage Power. It's an equip spell that gives him 500 attack and defense points for every spell or trap I have on the field. Including my old trap, that's 1000 points!"

A young swordsman with a large, majestic sword appeared. He wore blue robes with some armor plating and a cloth mask over his mouth. Then his sword shone silver as Mage runes etched into it. (2000/2000)

"I know that hitting you guys with that much power is a bit of over-kill, but lets face it, so was your demon monster." As Jake finished the brothers had to nod in slight agreement.

"Now, Swordsman, attack!" yelled Jake.

The swordsman launched into the air and landed between the two duelists. He then spun his sword and hit them both and their Life Points dropped.

**Yin-Yang: 0000**

**J & J: 1800**

"That's game," said Jaden, "cool match though, guys."

"Yeah," said Yin, "I guess it was."

"Here's our medals," said Yang taking his brothers and throwing them towards Jaden an Jake. "Later!" yelled the brothers as they dashed into the trees.

* * *

"Hmmm,"muttered Jaden. Jake had told Jaden why he had come to the island. He told Jaden about his duel with Cain and finding Ellie as a Society goon. Jaden filled in Jake about what he knew about the Society of Light, which wasn't much.

"So you came to the island to find out how to help her out, huh?" said Jaden.

"Yeah," Jake said leaning against a tree.

"Well… The only way I can think of how to get her back is to defeat her in a duel," said Jaden. "It worked for a friend of mine, Chazz Princeton."

"That's what I was worried about…" said Jake.

"Hey, don't worry about it;" said Jaden happily, "I gotta gut feeling that you could bring her back. Sooner or later, I'm gonna have to bring backmost of my friends the same way."

"You still have friends in the Society?" saked Jake

"Yeah," said Jaden sighing, "Bastion Misawa and Alexis Rhodes, but I'll get 'em back, you'll see!" Jaden resumed his normal grin.

Jake grinned back, "Well, good luck with that."

The two shook hands and parted ways. Jaden went to his Slifer Red dorm and Jake went to KaibaCorp embassy room.

* * *

Inside the red dorm, Jaden lay in his bunk-bed, his two roommates snoring

A certain fuzball appeared next to Jaden and poked his face. Jaden turned to pat Winged Kuriboh on the head.

"Yeah, you did well today, buddy," said Jaden scratching his partner on his furry head. "That Jake kid has potential. You could sense it too, huh pal?" Kuriboh nodded.

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open and light flooded in. There was someone in the doorway.

In the light of the door, Kuriboh faded and Jaden got up, shielding his eyes.

"Who're you?" said Jaden. For some reason, his friends wouldn't wake up.

The form of Saartorius came into the room.

"Jaden, I need your help." He said.

To Be Continued…


	6. Chapter 6: Duel of Promise 1of2

Level Rising

By Copper Thrice

Duel of Promise 1/2

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

* * *

Jake woke slowly from his sleep and checked his duel disk.

"Yep," he said, "Six medals." He checked over his deck and went to breakfast in the lobby.

He arrived and met Cain, who seemed unusually happy that morning.

"What's up?" Jake asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Well, your ranking for starters." Cain said before drinking some orange juice.

"My what?" Jake asked after swallowing.

"You see," Cain said pulling out a chart. Jake looked at a list of names that had numbers by them. It was a list of the top twenty-five duelists on the island.

Jake almost choked on a bite of pancake.

"I'm ranked twentieth?" he almost yelled.

"Yep," said Cain happily as Jake caught his breath. "You see, every duelist on this island has someone keeping tabs on their duels. It's only been a day and a half, but about half of the original duelists have already been beaten."

Jake scanned the list.

"Well, when you beat that rank twenty-first, Kyle Mesmera kid and then beat the rank nineteenth and eighteenth duelists, Yin and Yang Charles, your rank went waaaaaay up!" Cain continued.

"Yeah, but I had help from… what the?" Jake looked near the top of the list. "Jaden Yuki is… ranked third in this tournament and second in the Academy?"

"Yeah didn't you… You really don't know?" Cain asked incredulously. "Jaden Yuki has been the talk of the town for the last couple years. He was a rookie duelist who, in his first year; represented his school in a school match and beat high-ranked duelists in the academy. Don't tell me you never heard of him."

Jake nodded.

"Oh, man…" Cain said, "Well… now ya know. Just listen, I don't think you want to face that Ellie Watcher kid just yet."

Jake looked up at Cain with a shocked expression.

"Just look at her ranking. Listen, I don't mean to make it sound like I'm using you here, but… You're practically the last hope for my section of KaibaCorp. You see—" But Jake wasn't listening, he just looked at the Charts.

WATCHER, ELLIE: Freshman SOL RANK: 6th

"No way…" Jake said reading the line over and over again. "Ellie is ranked that high?"

"Yeah," said Cain interrupting his speech. "She's some kind of prodigy. If you face her…there's not much chance of victory. I think you should lay low for a while. You know re-build your deck, make some strategies, perform a ritual, something."

"No…" said Jake surprising Cain, "I have to beat her… and soon."

Jake remembered what Jaden said about the Society of Light. The longer a person stays in it, the more they 'lose themselves'. Jake didn't know what that meant, but he'd seen what had happened to her so far and he couldn't let it get any worse.

"I'm going to face her." Jake said resolutely, then he added silently, "Just as soon as I finish my pancakes."

* * *

Jake walked down a corridor and saw someone familiar walk down towards him.

"Huh," he said recognizing him, "Oh, hey, Jaden."

"Hey, Jake, how's it goin?" Jaden said as two Ra Yellow students came up behind him. One was a short kid with dorky glasses and bluish-green hair. The other was a tall guy with dreadlocked hair and he wore some army fatigues under his three-sizes too small yellow blazer that he wore like a jacket.

"Man," thought Jake, "For a popular guy he hangs around with a pretty weird group."

"Jaden," said the short kid, "You're not really gonna face Alexis are you?"

"Yeah, Sarge," said the tall, dreadlocked guy, "You don't know what she might pull out of her deck."

"Yeah," said the short kid, "Hassleberry's right. You could get creamed."

"Relax, Cyrus," said Jaden, "I can beat her. Besides, I've always liked a challenge."

"But," said both of them at the same time.

"Ya know…" Jaden said thoughtfully, "If I lose I wonder how one of those white uniforms would be…"

"What?" yelled the two Ra Yellows

Jaden laughed. "I'm just kidding, guys. I got a good feeling that I can beat her."

"Well, good luck, Jaden," said Jake after watching the scene.

Jaden nodded towards Jake, "Thanks, man. Good luck against Ellie too."

Jake nodded as they walked past each other.

"Who was that, Jae?" asked Cyrus.

"He's a duelist I met a little while back," said Jaden.

"Ellie…" Hassleberry thought aloud. Then he almost jumped in shock. "Did he mean Ellie Watcher, the second-best female duelist under Alexis?"

"Yep, they were old friends a while back," said Jaden folding his arms behind his head.

"Do you think he'll win?" asked Cyrus.

Jaden dropped his arms and he drifted into thought, "I really don't know…"

Cyrus and Hassleberry just looked at each other.

* * *

As Jake walked to the Society's Dorm he remembered the last time he had met with Ellie, almost a year ago…

At a port on the ocean, Jake was walking to the boat with Ellie. When she got on that boat, she would be on her way to Duel Academy.

She was wearing her new Ra Yellow uniform. The students were loading onto the boat.

"Well," Jake sighed, "I guess this is it."

"Yeah," said Ellie sadly.

The two stood in silence, then Ellie sighed and spoke, "Listen, I want you to have these." Ellie reached into her pocket and pulled out her deck. Out of it, she pulled out three cards.

"Wait," said Jake as she put them in his hand. "I can't have these."

"Doesn't matter to me," Ellie said, "I've got doubles. Listen, your deck has some good cards to it. A while ago, you chose to make Level monsters the core of your deck. That's really cool, but… If all you use is Level monsters, then you're not going to last. You need to cover their weaknesses. These should help."

"But I…" said Jake, he looked off to the side. "I'll miss ya, okay I've said it."

Ellie smiled then shook her head, "Yeah, me too." She took a few steps past him and then turned around, Jake did the same.

"I'll e-mail you, okay?" she said smiling.

"Yeah," Jake said returning the smile, "Remember, if you get into any trouble there…"

Ellie laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I know, you'll help me out. Later, Jake."

And with that, Ellie Watcher walked onto the boat and waved at Jake as she left.

Jake waved until she was out of sight. Then, feeling stupid, he lowered his arm and stared off into the sunset.

He turned and went home, feeling unusually lonely.

He looked into his hand to see his new cards: Breaker, Marshmallon, and D.D. Assailant.

Jake slid the cards into his deck and gave one more look of into the sunset.

"I made a promise," thought Jake, "I keep my promises."

* * *

Jake walked up to the Society of Light dorm and found Ellie waiting for him in the courtyard. He looked at his deck and nodded. He felt ready… but was he.

He walked towards Ellie who began the conversation.

"I don't know if you're pretty brave or pretty stupid to be facing me," she said coldly, "I guess we'll just have to find out." She activated her duel disk. "Oh, by the way, if you win, I leave the Society. However, when I win, you'll join us."

Jake nodded and activated his duel disk. It was now or never.

* * *

On a hill-side, overlooking the two duelists, stood Cain and a few spectators, mostly Society of Light students.

Next to Cain walked up a familiar face.

"So," said Kyle Mesmera, "Is Jake actually facing Ellie Watcher."

Cain nodded.

"Heh," said Kyle sitting down, "This should be good."

* * *

**DUEL**

**Jake: 4000**

**Ellie: 4000**

"I'll go first," said Ellie, "I summon my Reflect Bounder! (1700/1000)" A monster with mirrors on its body and a red cape appeared. "If you attack this monster," Ellie said, "You'll receive damage equal to your monster's attack on your Life Points. I'll just lay a card face-down and end my turn."

"Right," said Jake drawing. "Alright," Jake thought examining his hand, "I gotta think this through. Ellie's been beating me for years. I gotta beat her."

"I summon my Breaker, the Magical Warrior! (1600/1000)" A red and gold armored warrior was summoned. He had a sword and a shield that bore slots for spell counters.

"When he's summoned, I get to place a Spell Counter on him. It boosts his attack by 300 points or I can sacrifice it to destroy your face-down card!"

A black stone with a yellow triangle inside of it appeared inside Breaker's shield. Breaker removed it and threw it at the face-down holo-card, which shattered on impact.

"Now I'll place a card face-down and end my turn." Said Jake.

"My turn," said Ellie, drawing. "Hmmm," She thought, "I drew one of the cards Master gave me. I could win this duel pretty quickly with it if I draw the other on, but…" Ellie looked at Jake. "I won't need it to beat this rookie."

"I'll activate my spell card, Graceful Charity!" Ellie drew three cards and discarded two after the draw. "Now I activate the spell card Tremendous Fire, it does 500 points of damage to me, but does 1000 points of damage to you. I'll use both of the copies I have in my hand!"

Suddenly the ground burst open and small flames surrounded Ellie, and then huge flames engulfed Jake.

Jake looked down at his duel disk and grit his teeth as he saw his Life Points drop.

**Jake: 2000**

**Ellie: 3000**

"Now I'll have my Reflect Bounder attack your Breaker!" yelled Ellie pointing at Jake's monster.

"Dang it," thought Jake as the mirrored monster charged its attack. "I just laid down a Level Up! as a bluff. That attack'll hit."

The mirrored monster absorbed sunlight and shot it towards Breaker, who shattered on impact.

**Jake: 1900**

**Ellie: 3000**

"My turn," Jake grunted as he drew.

"You know…" said Ellie. Jake looked up at her. "You just confirmed my suspicion. You're still the same amateur duelist who flunked his Duel Exam. You must've been lucky to have faced some pathetic duelists on the way here, but your luck's run out now."

"Hey," yelled Kyle standing up and pointing angrily at Ellie, "Take that back!"

Ellie paid him no mind.

Jake just gave Kyle a glance and got back to his hand.

"Ellie," Jake said almost quietly. Ellie gave him a cold stare.

"What," she asked annoyed

"No offence, but I have to beat you," said Jake.

"What?" said Ellie.

"I made a promise," said Jake resolutely. Then he raised a card out of his hand.

"AND I KEEP MY PROMISES!"

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7: Duel of Promise 2of2

Level Rising

By Copper Thrice

Duel of Promise 2/2

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

* * *

"Man," said Kyle sitting down next to Cain. "Jake better pull somethin out of his hat or this duel's done…" 

Cain nodded solemnly.

"That Ellie girl's pretty good though. Ya think Jake has a chance," asked Kyle to Cain.

Cain stayed silent, looking intently at the battlefield in front of the Society of Light dorm.

Kyle and Cain heard sniggering behind them. They turned to see a small gang of Society of Light duelists.

"If yur rooting for that guy down there you might as well stop." Said one student who was ahead of the pack. His grey eyes and white blazer blended in with his group. "Ellie Watcher was the one who got us to see the Light. Soon that kid will follow in our footsteps. He's just another foolish rookie who faced her."

"I'm not so sure," said Cain. The white students faced Cain. Cain turned to Kyle. "You faced him, you should know." Cain shot Kyle a grin. Kyle grinned back.

"Yeah," said Kyle turning back towards the match.

* * *

**Jake: 1900**

**Ellie: 3000**

"Alright," said Jake, "I summon my Armed Dragon LV 3! (1200/900)"

A small, yellow dragon with pieces of armor appeared n front of Jake. It gave a small roar when it was summoned. Ellie blinked in surprise when the dragon did that.

Jake was usually fazed by stuff like that, but right now he was too focused on the match.

"Now I'll activate my face-down card, Level Up!" yelled Jake as the hologram of a spell flipped up. "I'll use it to transform my dragon into Armed Dragon LV 5! (2400/1700)"

The little dragon glowed and grew larger. Its scaly skin became a deep red and its armor thickened. In its hand appeared a black, spiked club. The newly empowered dragon let out a new, powerful roar. Jake merely stared straight forward, but Ellie flinched.

"This," she thought, "This is unnatural. Even for a hologram. Maybe…" she glared at Jake, "Maybe he really has changed."

"Woah," said Kyle. Then he turned to Cain. "Did you hear that?"

Cain looked at Kyle, confusion covered his face.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cain, "The only things I hear are you and those Society members over there."

Kyle blinked then spoke, "But… that dragon just…" Cain shrugged him off and watched the match.

Kyle looked down at the field. "Something's going on here," he thought.

"Alright," thought Jake as his monster silenced, "I don't have another monster in my hand to sacrifice for my dragon's ability, but my dragon's still stronger than her Reflect Bounder. I should be fine for now."

"I'll place a face-down card and end my turn," said Jake as a hologram of a card appeared at his feet.

"My turn," said Ellie drawing. "Hmmm," she thought, "Saartorius' cards… I could use these, but…" Ellie looked at Jake. "I can use this and Jake will lose pretty quickly. Do I really want to beat him? Maybe I should—"

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Ellie yelled as she clutched her head. She felt piercing pain in her head, and then a voice that seemed to calm the pain.

"Ellie…" said the voice softly, "Ellie…"

"M-master?" Ellie said aloud. She looked up and saw Jake was yelling something at her, but she couldn't hear him.

"Ellie… Why do you hesitate," said the voice of Saartorius in a slightly scolding tone. "Crush him my servant. Use the cards I gave you."

"N-no…" Ellie said. Then a new spike of pain stabbed her mind.

"You are mine, Ellie Watcher," said the voice, "I will give you my power."

Ellie screamed as blinding light surrounded her. The spectators had to shield their eyes. Jake's eyes felt pain even though he shielded them. It was so bright, but at the same time it felt… evil.

Ellie's scream subsided and she bowed down to the ground.

"Ellie—"yelled Jake worriedly. Suddenly the hologram of the dragon stepped in front of Jake. It looked at him over its shoulder and seemed to tell Jake to stay back.

Jake knew it was a hologram, but he stayed back and watched Ellie rise.

When Ellie stood, her eyes were closed and she began laughing. Her eyes opened and the iris's were pure white. An evil white aura surrounded her.

The voice of her Master spoke to Ellie, "Crush him."

"Yes, Master," she replied. Then she pulled a card out of her hand and played it. "I activate my Ritual Spell card, Shinato's Ark!" A spell card appeared in front of her.

"Now I sacrifice a monster from my hand and my Reflect Bounder to summon…"

The mirrored monster and a hologram of a card were sucked into the Ritual Card.

A new light shone from the sky. It somehow held a mysterious power within it.

A huge monster came down from the light. It was a humanoid monster with six wings and a flowing, white robe. Its arms were armored and so were its legs. Its head was adorned with a pointed, gold crown.

"Shinato, King of a Higher Plane! (3300/3000)" proclaimed Ellie as the monster took its place behind her.

"Great," thought Jake, "The last time I faced a powerful monster Jaden was able to help me, but now…"

"Shinato! Destroy his pathetic dragon!" yelled Ellie.

The monster focused energy between its hands. The monster rose its hands high and threw the ball of energy at Jake's monster.

"I activate my face-down, Rush Recklessly!" Yelled Jake as the ball of light came towards him. "It increases my Armed Dragon's attack by 700 points!"

Armed Dragon LV 5: 3100/1700

The ball of energy struck the empowered dragon, but the energy wasn't enough to stop Shinato's blast.

With a final roar, the red dragon shattered.

**Jake: 1900**

**Ellie: 3000**

Jake looked up at the angelic monster. Hope was dwindling for him.

"Oh, by the way," said Ellie, a cruel smile on her face, "Whenever my monster destroys another monster in battle, their Defense Points are subtracted from your Life Points."

Jake's eyes widened and he looked at his duel disk. Sure enough, his LP was draining.

**Jake: 0200**

**Ellie: 3000**

"Hmmm…" thought Ellie, "If I underestimate Jake's chances again, I might pay for it…"

"I'll activate my Swords of Revealing Light!" yelled Ellie as the evil aura of light around her shined brighter. "It makes it so that you can't attack me for three turns." Ellie laughed, "But I guess before turns it will all be over. You can at least take pride in knowing that this was some of your best dueling." Ellie laughed again.

Swords made of pure light surrounded the field around Jake.

* * *

"I'm going to lose," thought Jake, "I can't win this… I shouldn't have even come. What was I thinking challenging her? I've been dueling her for years and I haven't beat her once." 

Suddenly, Jake opened his eyes and he was no longer on the battlefield outside the Societies' dorm. He was standing in some kind of ancient temple room. There were old stones that made up the walls and a single hole in the ceiling that provided light.

Jake looked around and saw five crystals. They were emerald colored and they were as big as he was.

"Hey," said a young voice from one of the crystals.

Jake turned around to see a short figure 'melt' out of one of the five crystals. It instantly lost its radiance.

The figure was child-like. He wore a pointed helmet and a sash around his mouth. He was clad in light, purple armor and he had a sword sheathed at his side.

"How's it goin, Jake," the warrior asked crossing his arms.

Jake blinked, "You… you know my name." Jake shook his head. "Wait, wait a minute. Your not real, you're a—"

"Duel Monster?" said the warrior sarcastically, "Well, your half right." The warrior drew his sword and Jake took a step back. "Oh, like I would hurt you. Yeesh." The warrior held his sword out and proclaimed himself.

"I am the Mystic Swordsman," The warrior sheathed his sword. "Jake, It's time that you finally met the crew."

Suddenly, three figures 'melted' out of the crystals.

One was a warrior about Jake's height with a blue, flowing robe and blonde hair. On his back was a great sword with magic symbols on it.

"That's Silent Swordsman," Said the Mystic Swordsman, walking up beside Jake.

The next figure was a silver, birdlike dragon that was about up to Jake's stomach. It chirped and a tongue of black flame shot from its mouth.

"That's Horus," Said the Mystic Swordsman.

The last figure to emerge was very familiar to Jake. It was a small, yellow dragon with plates of light armor. It landed in front of Jake and croaked something at him.

"That's Armed Dragon," said the Mystic Swordsman, "He's apologizing for not being of much use during your match." The dragon gave a sad, guttural sound.

"Uh," said Jake taking all this in, "That's okay… Your roar was pretty good though."

The dragon nodded happily and walked over to its allies.

"Listen, Jake" said the purple warrior standing by the others. "We need to talk, something's come up. Something evil."

"Yeah," said Jake, "The Society of Light, I know. You know, you guys are a bit late on finding that out. They've been around for a while."

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to worry about the Society. We've received word from the NeoSpacians that its going to be taken care of." Said the Mystic Swordsman.

"The Neo-who?" asked Jake.

"Never mind," said the Mystic Swordsman shaking his head. "We've recently found out that a new force is rising. If or when the Society falls, this new evil will arrive and try to upset the balance of Light and Darkness. I believe you met with a couple of this new evil's servants. They were the Charles brothers, Yin and Yang."

Jake blinked, he remembered those two. They had faced him and Jaden and almost won.

"The monster they summoned, Dark Dreadroute was a servant of this new force. If you had lost to it, chances are that you would dwell in Darkness right now."

"Wow," said Jake taking all this in. "Listen, guys, I'd love to help, but I'm in a little fix right now. In case you have forgotten, I'm sorta in a duel right now."

"Yes, we know that all too well and we want to see Ellie back as well. If we interfered in any way, the duel will be forfeit, so we've never helped you in your duels. We're pretty surprised to see your progress, though." Said the purple-clad swordsman.

"Yeah, but apparently I'm still not that good, I'm going to get stomped." Said Jake

"We know," said the Swordsman solemnly. "But, on the off chance that you do win, you'll have to face the new force. But… If you want to just lose this match and become a Society member, we can try to get someone else to beat you and return you to normal… You could lead a normal life after that."

Jake thought for a moment. Could he really just give in and all this weird stuff would be over. He could stay in the Society with Ellie and…

"No…" Jake said aloud. The monsters looked up at him intently. "You know, I could lose this duel and things may end up okay, but…" Jake looked up at the hole in the ceiling where pure light poured on him. "I made a promise…."

The monsters looked at each other. The Silent Swordsman gave a grin and Horus chirped happily.

"To help Ellie, if she ever got into trouble…"

The Armed Dragon's tail twitched happily and he gave a small roar.

"And you know what…?"

The Mystic Swordsman gave a chuckle as he put his hand on his blade.

"I keep my promises!" said Jake with new resolve.

"In that case, it's time to break out the big guns." Said the Mystic Swordsman. He then pointed towards the only crystal that still shined.

Jake walked up to it and put his hand on the crystal.

* * *

After a flash of light, Jake was back at Duel Academy, Shinato still loomed menacingly over Ellie and her white aura. 

Jake gave a grin as he lowered his hand onto his deck.

"My turn?" Jake asked

"I don't see why you're in such a hurry to lose," said Ellie, "But, yeah it's your turn."

"Got it," Jake said drawing. "Alright," thought Jake.

"Hey, Ellie," yelled Jake across the field.

"What?" she responded angrily.

"You might remember this card. A long time back, I said that I'd use this card as the Flow of my deck. Here it is!" said Jake as he played his newly drawn card.

A new figure, the size of a child, was summoned. It had a long, white robe in front of it with a blue outfit on underneath it. It had a short, magician's rod and a white, pointed hat. Its hair was long and grey; it went down to its shoulders.

"Meet Silent Magician LV 4! (1000/1000)" The mage looked up at Ellie with its deep, blue eyes.

"That monster may be the core of your deck," said Ellie, "But it still pales in comparison to my King of a Higher Plane."

"Yeah," said Jake with a grin, "But watch this! I activate Excavation of Mage Stones! I can discard two cards from my hand," Jake sent his two cards to the graveyard. "Now I get a spell card from my graveyard of my choice. I choose… Level Up!"

Jake drew the spell from his graveyard slot on the duel disk.

"Now I activate my spell to turn my Silent Magician LV 4 into…" The mage lifted itself into the air and pure light surrounded it. Its magician's rod grew and energy cackled around it. Its grey hair grew down to its back. It grew until it was taller than Jake by about a head.

"Silent Magician LV 8! (3500/1000)" yelled Jake as his monster formed.

It hovered with a magical hum in front of Jake and it was then that Jake, after years of having this card in his deck, noticed something.

"What the…" Jake said to the monster, "You're a girl?"

It was indeed true that the Silent Magician was female. She turned towards Jake and crossed her arms as if to say, "Is that a problem?"

Jake just shook his head. "Keep it together," he thought. The Magician turned back towards Ellie with a determined look in her eyes.

"I have to finish this duel now, or Ellie will counterattack." Thought Jake.

"I activate my equip spell, Megamorph!" yelled Jake as he played the last card in his hand. "It doubles the attack points of the monster I equip it too as long as my Life Points are lower than yours."

The Magician knelt down and a magical circle surrounded her. Magical energy poured into her and she rose. Her energy completely overshadowing Shinato's.

Silent Magician LV 8: 7000/1000

"Now, Silent Magician," yelled Jake, "Attack!"

The mage lifted high into the air, energy trailed behind her.

"Wait," said Ellie worriedly, the aura of light fading around her. "My swords make it so that you can't attack on your turn. The swords of light shot up at the mage to stop her.

"No, they don't," said Jake, "My Magician can't be touched by any of my opponent's spell cards.

The mage held out the hand that didn't hold the rod and a wave of blue energy shot at the swords. The swords fell to the ground, useless.

"ELLIE," yelled Jake at his old friend, "I KEEP MY PROMISES!"

The mage charged a massive amount of energy into its rod and it formed into a huge ball that was almost the size of the Society's dorm. With a silent yell, the mage hurled the sphere at Shinato.

The monster didn't even try to counter.

It knew it was done.

In a flash of blinding light and waves of energy…

It was done.

**Jake: 0200**

**Ellie: 0000**

The aura faded from Ellie who was now on her knees. Her eyes closed and she fell to the ground.

Jake turned off his duel disk and rushed over to help her. The holographic dust disappeared in an instant.

"Ellie?" he asked as he rose her up from the dust. "Are you alright?"

She stirred and opened her eyes. Her uniform turned dark blue and her eyes returned to hazel color.

"Jake," she asked softly, "Why are you at Duel Academy?"

Jake smiled and gave a short laugh which confused Ellie.

"What's so funny?" Then she looked at her duel disk. "Life Points… Zero…" Then she saw Jake's disk.

She sat up with a shocked expression. "Don't tell me we dueled and I… and I…"

Jake crossed his arms and grinned.

"I lost…" Ellie said softly, then they both laughed. "Not bad, Jake, not bad." She said approvingly. Then she looked at Jake's side of the field.

"You might want to turn off your duel disk, though. Continuous hologram usage drains the battery." Ellie said standing up. 'Nice monster though, you finally managed to summon her. Told you she was a girl"

Jake grinned and stood up. He pointed to his duel disk and Ellie's eyes widened.

The duel disk WAS off.

Ellie turned back towards the monster who, smiled and faded away into the light.

"What hologram?" he asked with a smile, "C'mon, I'll fill you in on the way to the KaibaCorp embassy."

And so the two friends walked together once again…

But is their journey really over?

* * *

Epilogue and Author's notes soon

Thanks for viewing--------------------------Copper Thrice


	8. Chapter 8

Level Rising

By Copper Thrice

Pt. 8: Epilogue: The Path of the Duelist

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

* * *

The GX tournament had ended. Jake managed to defeat three more opponents after his match with Ellie. Then he lost to some guy called Aster Phoenix. (The guy grumbled something about a Destiny card, searched Jake's deck for something, and left.)

A few days later, Jake was talking to Ellie when a beam of light shot from the sky and hit the island. Jake had a feeling that there was something going on and headed to the Society of Light dorm. Ellie followed him.

They arrived to find Jaden, Cyrus, Aster and a girl who Jake assumed to be Alexis Rhodes. Jaden told Jake about how he had just defeated Saartorius. Ellie wished that she could've seen the duel. Cyrus said it was awesome.

Apparently, Saartorius' was taken over by something called the DarkLight. Through it, he created the Society of Light. Jaden and Aster had been given keys to some kind of satellite and Saartorius almost it to… take over the world or something. Jaden kinda hurried his speech and ran off after something, so Jake didn't get the whole story.

A few more days later, Jake sat with Cain and Ellie while the awards for the tournament were being handed out.

* * *

That night Jake lay in his KC embassy room for the last time. Tomorrow, he was to leave the Academy and return home.

Jake felt around for the award he got at the Ceremony earlier. The top ten duelists at the GX tournament received medals. Jake held up a medal in front of him with his rank on it. It was a bronze medallion with a GX on one side and a 10 on the other.

"Did this really happen?" Jake wondered, "Did the last few days really happen?"

Jake picked up his deck and selected a few cards from it. He then got up and placed them on the desk in the corner of the dark room. He looked them over.

Silent Swordsman

Horus

Mystic Swordsman

Armed Dragon

Silent Magician

Jake grinned. "Thanks, guys," he said to the cards, "Thanks for everything."

Jake then went to bed and chuckled. He knew that he had placed his trust in the right cards. Maybe Ellie's advice from so long ago was useful after all.

Jake then let sleep take him.

* * *

The next morning, Jake found himself in his KaibaCorp silver blazer and in front of Chancellor Shepherd's office. He had been asked to meet with the Chancellor himself.

Jake swallowed nervously and entered the office.

* * *

Later that day, with the sun almost setting over the waves, Ellie leaned against a tree watching the pier. She was now wearing her Obelisk Blue uniform with a pair of blue jeans.

Ellie had received an e-mail from Jake to meet him here at this time.

Jake was running a little late.

Just as Ellie was wondering about what she would do to Jake if he made her wait for a long time, Jake appeared.

When he saw Ellie, he grinned and rushed over to her.

"How's it goin?" Jake asked.

Ellie shrugged, "Fine, I guess. What did you want to talk with me about?"

Jake sighed and looked off into the waves. Ellie patiently waited his reply.

"Ellie…" Jake said still watching the sun set, "Shepherd offered me a scholarship to Duel Academy and a placement in the Obelisk Blue dorm."

Ellie's eyes widened, "Jake, that's awesome! That means—"

"But," Jae said interrupting Ellie, "I had to turn it down."

Ellie's mouth dropped. "Why?" she asked quietly.

Jake turned to Ellie, there was a seriousness in his eyes that Ellie had never seen before. "I told you about the Level monsters and the coming Darkness, right?"

Ellie nodded slowly.

Jake clenched his fist, "It's not that I don't want to stay here. I really want to stay at the Academy with—" Jake cut himself off and turned a slight hint of red. He returned is gaze to the sunset.

"It's just that I can't." Jake said sadly. "I have a feeling that something bad is coming… and I have to help stop it." He returned his gaze back to Ellie. "I want to make a difference. Jaden took care of DarkLight, now I'll face Darkness. I feel…"

Jake held up his duel disk and looked at his deck.

"I feel like I have to do this… Sorry…" Jake watched as a KaibaCorp helicopter flew in and landed on the pier. He also saw Cain waiting for him.

"I told Shepherd about it. He's covering for me and telling my parents that I'm going to the Academy. I'm really going to Rome, that's where this Darkness is growing. That's where I need to be."

Jake walked past Ellie, "Bye." Jake walked to the pier.

"Wait," Ellie said holding back a sob. Jake turned. She faced him, holding back tears. Crying wasn't her way. "Just make me a promise. Promise me that you'll take care of yourself."

Jake smiled, "Yeah, I promise… and you know me…"

Jake turned to the copter.

"I keep my promises."

Level Rising: THE END

Coming Up…

Level Rising:

Dark Times

The conclusion of the LEVEL series.

Thanks for reading,

Copper Thrice


End file.
